Creating Powerful M u l t i c u l t u r a l Lessons Using Literature, Music and Media

1. Creating Powerful Multicultural Lessons Using Literature, Musicand Media Cathy A. Pohan, Ph.D. Texas A & M - Corpus Christi (361) 825-2860

2. The Role of Public Education in the United States • The enculturation of our young into a social and political democracy (Goodlad, 2004). • To help young people do well in the lives they lead outside of school (Eisner, 2004).

3. Democratic Citizenship • Maintaining a democratic society and preserving and extending freedom require citizens who • Understand and embrace democratic values and • Recognize their responsibility to help narrow the gap between real and idealized American values (Banks, 1999).

4. Democratic Education Students of every age should leave school with the following three understandings: • I can make a difference in my world • I know how to make a difference in my world. • I care enough to make a difference in my world. (Hutchinson & Hunt, 2001)

5. A Call For Multicultural Education • As the diversity of our society deepens and our nation faces new challenges and possibilities, the mastery of basic skills will be essential but not sufficient. • Students must possess the knowledge, attitudes, and abilities needed to work with people from diverse groups in order to create civic, moral, and just communities that promote the common good (Banks, 1999).

6. Multicultural Education: Supporting ELLs Through: • Comprehensible input • Increased opportunities for verbal interaction in activities • Contextualized language • Low anxiety activities • Increased opportunities for student engagement and active participation (Cummins; Herrell & Jordon;and Krashen)

7. Imaging A strategy whereby students create images in their minds to support the under-standing of concepts or to solve problems. (Chamot & O’Mally, 1994) Multimedia Presentations Use of media adds context which result in comprehensible input. (Diaz-Rico & Weed, 1995) Two Specific StrategiesUsed to Support ELLs

8. Sources for Powerful and Engaging (Multicultural) Lessons • Music (text in the form of lyrics and song) • Literature (trade books, primary and secondary source documents) • Media Sources (television, magazines, newspapers, internet)

9. Music: The Doorway to Emotional Memory • Music elicits feelings and emotion. • Lyrics are the text of music. Students can analyze, interpret and respond to such text. • Students might have difficulty readingabout social and political issues, but they will listen to such issues discussed in popular music. • Music engages the heart and mind. • Music can create a context for increased verbal communication and language development.

10. A Multicultural Approach is Compatible with a Standards-Based Curriculum • See Elementary and Middle School Reading/Language Arts and Social Science TEKS • See Secondary Reading, Speech Communications and Social Science TEKS

11. Popular Music Samples • Elementary and Middle School “Don’t Laugh at Me” by Mark Wills “ Who I Am” by Jessica Andrews • Middle and Secondary School “Where is the Love” by The Blackeyed Peas

12. Literature Examples • Textbooks were never meant to be THE Curriculum! They are simply a resource for teachers. • Studies have found that textbooks often present sterile, one-sided views and are filled with inaccurate information. (Loewen; Daniels & Zemelman, 2004) • Trade books, primary source documents and the internet can provide students with multiple perspectives and an opportunity to develop critical thinking and media literacy.

13. Television Viewing • Young people ages 6-18 spend more time in front of the television than in school or sleeping. On average, preschoolers in the U.S. watch 27 hours of TV per week. • It is estimated that before graduating from elementary school, a child will witness 100,000 acts of simulated violence on TV. • Children’s programming perpetuates the gender and ethnic stereotypes prevalent in American society. (APA, 1998; Centerwall, 2000; Cortes, 2001; MacBeth, 1996)

14. Television/Media cont. • What appears to be quite clear in the research is that, for better or worse, the media (television, in particular) contribute powerfully to current multicultural beliefs, attitudes, understandings and misunderstandings. • Television teaches children who is important and who is culturally elevated and valued. The messages are subtle and pervasively there in role-casting, voice-overs, and scripting. (Cortes, 2001; MacBeth, 1996).

15. In Children’s Programming • Studies reveal a glaringly disproportionate number of “good guys” are White males; “bad guys” are often portrayed as males of color and/or people with accents (suggesting ESL and/or foreigners). • Male characters outnumber female characters almost 4 to 1. • Whereas males are portrayed as dominate, powerful and aggressive, females either have no role at all or are cast as “damsels in distress” or sex objects. (MacBeth, 1996; Cortes, 2001)

16. What’s All the FussAbout Television? • Stereotypic, snapshot depictions present young people with a social reality. • The cumulative effect, in combination with their real life experiences (or lack thereof), influences children’s developing beliefs about themselves and diverse others (MacBeth, 1996; Quintana, 1999). • Beliefs are powerful, mediating knowledge and actions (Bandura, 1977).

17. Hate Crimes on the Rise “Most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise law-abiding young people who see little wrong with their actions. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant appears to be personal prejudice, a situation that colors people’s judgment, blinding the aggressor to the immorality of what they are doing.” (APA, 1998 Report)

18. Developing Media Literacy • We must take seriously our call to teach media literacy skills, thereby empowering young people to sort through the content of a variety of media sources and ask: • Who is telling the story? • Is it authentic? How do I know? • How does this perspective fit with my own lived experiences? • Who gains from my believing this information? • What perspective or information am I not hearing or seeing?

19. What Can We Do? • It does us little good to recognize the mass media’s multicultural teaching power, particularly the media treatment of different social and cultural groups, if we, as teachers do not also draw upon that recognition to inform and transform our teaching practices. (Cortes, 2001)

20. Media Education: Media Literacy • “In the engagement of content, media education fosters the observation of details and their sequence and the relationships in a purposeful manner to arrive at an understanding of the ideological structures, themes, values, claims, and evidence, and their warrants, as well as narrative elements such as motivations, plot lines, characters, and characterizations.

21. Media Education/Literacy cont. • Media education provides for a reflective evaluation of • Fact and opinion • Logical and affective appeals • Imaginative and creative exposition and • Imaging.” (Anderson & Ploghoft, 1993)

22. Examples of Using the Media to Teach About Social and Political Issues.

23. More Ideas • Familiarize yourself with your students’ TV viewing habits and favorite music groups. • Use segments of TV programming and other media reports to discuss the characterization and/or depiction of minorities and women in these programs. • Use TV clips to dialogue about social issues, the motives and/or intentions of characters.

24. More Ideas • Select age-appropriate historical and current events to help children develop the skills needed to deal effectively with the complexity of “good” and “evil.” • Teach about persuasion so the young become more critical consumers of advertisements. • Point out differences between fantasy and reality, especially with the young. • Compare and contrast the values reflected in the media with those we may hold as a family or as individuals.

25. Questions and Answers